On This Day: Great Baltimore Fire (1904)

Today is Saturday, Feb. 7, the 38th day of 2026. There are 327 days left in the year.

On this day in history:

- 1904: The Great Baltimore Fire began, becoming one of the worst urban conflagrations in U.S. history and destroying more than 1,500 buildings in central Baltimore.

Also on this date:

- 1943: The U.S. government announced wartime rationing of leather shoes, limiting how many pairs an individual could buy annually; rationing ended in 1945 after World War II.

- 1964: The Beatles arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and were greeted by thousands of screaming fans as they began their first American tour.

- 1971: Swiss women gained the right to vote in a national referendum, 12 years after an earlier attempt had failed.

- 1984: Space shuttle Challenger astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart performed the first untethered spacewalk.

- 1991: Jean-Bertrand Aristide was inaugurated as Haiti’s first democratically elected president; he was ousted by the military the following September.

- 1999: Jordan’s King Hussein died of cancer at 63 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah.

- 2013: Mississippi certified its ratification of the 13th Amendment, becoming the last state to formally abolish slavery.

- 2021: Quarterback Tom Brady, having moved to a new team and conference, led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs on the Buccaneers’ home field.

- 2023: LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Today’s birthdays:

- Gay Talese, author, 94

- Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), 74

- James Spader, actor, 66

- Garth Brooks, country singer, 64

- Eddie Izzard, actor-comedian, 64

- Chris Rock, actor-comedian, 61

- Essence Atkins, actor, 54

- Steve Nash, Basketball Hall of Famer, 52

- Ashton Kutcher, actor, 48

- Deborah Ann Woll, actor, 41

- Matthew Stafford, NFL quarterback, 38

- Steven Stamkos, NHL forward, 36

- Pierre Gasly, race car driver, 30

- Bea Miller, singer, 27